1. Field of the Invention
This invention includes a rotary means having slidable, reciprocating blades for efficiently extracting electrical energy from underwater currents.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are a variety of different devices which produce electrical energy from water currents. For example, turbines are frequently used in combination with dam structures to extract hydroelectric power from rivers and streams. Similarly, there have been attempts over the years to take energy from areas of high tides, such as the Bay of Fundy. Moreover, there are presently devices which can extract minimal amounts of energy from wave motion alone. However, there are not now believed to exist efficient structures which can tap the strong underwater currents known to exist under the sea and in fast flowing rivers and streams. Because of the mass and velocity of underwater currents that exist in places such as the Straits of Messina, it is likely that large amounts of energy could be taken from those sources.